Q is unique among the letters of the English alphabet in that it always has to be partnered with another letter (not counting loanwords like Quran, Qatar, and Iraq).
Why does it always have to be followed by a U? Continue reading
Why does Q Need U?
French
Suit Yourself!
I’m going to wear a suit tomorrow. I don’t often, so it’ll be a rare treat, no doubt, for the general public who might be passing by. When I say suit, you probably think of a man wearing a matching jacket, trousers, and shirt, with optional tie. But if you think about it, there are many other ways to use the word suit, aren’t there…? Continue reading
Sweet Like Candy
MILK!!
Did you hear me!? I said MILK!!
I had to laugh when I saw this today. I get the idea of course. Milk seems pretty healthy, so why not emphasise that ingredient? If it were the main ingredient, the manufacturers wouldn’t need to do anything, as it’d be listed first (did you know that ingredients are always listed in descending order of how of them much are featured in the product?) Continue reading
Barbara L’Italien
I’d never heard of Barbara L’Italien, an American politician with the Democratic party, before today. She was accidentally invited onto a Fox “News” programme instead of a Democratic supporter of ICE, the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. With L’Italien being a staunch critic of ICE, the interview didn’t exactly go as the hosts had planned: Continue reading
French-Language Thoughts
Yesterday on Facebook, I wrote briefly about the French phrase tenir la chandelle (literally to hold the candle), which means to play gooseberry. This got me thinking a little about the French verb tenir, which then led me to think about how it relates to the French word maintenant.
And yes, this is all about French, but in honour of France qualifying for the World Cup Final tonight*, I thought it was time for a little change of pace, and some French-Language Thoughts!™ Continue reading
Saint Martin/Sint Maarten
I occasionally like to visit this site’s statistics to have a look at all you lovely readers come from. I’m always amazed and grateful to see people from all over the world (I’d love to know if the two visits from Greenland were two different people, or the same person visiting two different pages).
It was interesting to notice that I’ve had a few visits from both Saint Martin and Sint Maarten. Continue reading
Euskal Herria
Hello there!
Yes, I’ve been away for a little while again. Between Saturday and Thursday, I was on a well-earned holiday to the Basque Country.
English-Language Thoughts 